Other People’s Reads

It wouldn’t be a round-up post without them. However, since I scour people’s archives on a regular basis, these may not even be from the right time period…

Since every year there are more followers around, I’ll mention I don’t include round-ups (that’s a cop out) or update/collection/award posts. I also generally don’t include lists or personal posts because although they’re good for certain times, I would much rather reward pieces that are both thought-out and relevant to the blog – plus I only have 15 spots, so selectivity is key! Outside of “I haven’t found your blog yet” or “your content lies outside the scope of my blog”, this should probably explain why I haven’t featured your content yet.

Double Decker: A Fun Show with Some Character Issues by Scott from Mechanical Anime Reviews – Double Decker is its own kind of oddball. Stuck between the legacy of Tiger and Bunny and being itself, it’s arguable whether it stuck the landing on any of its themes or character arc resolutions. Then again, there are those extra episodes, so remind yourself of what was with this post.

On Laid-Back Camp and Nature as Society’s Companion rather than Society’s Foe by SpiritusNoxSA from Musings and Pretensions – I searched a bunch of this blog’s posts, only to find there’s no author’s name or alias assigned to them, so I had to consult someone else’s post to see the writer’s Twitter handle. Regardless of that problem though, stellar writing is stellar writing and the best always shines through during the 12 Days (like I say above the cut), and this proves it.

Concrete Revolutio Episode 8: Another Brick in the Wall by Terrance Crow (Crow’s World of Anime) – I do like to look back fondly on Concrete Revolutio, even if it means starting to make sense of those convoluted plotlines. In commemoration of why Planet With was able to be such a success for me, I offer to you an inkling of what came before…

Indirect Kisses – Do They Really Mean Anything? by Alfredo (Slice of Alfredo) – I admit Most people who’ve watched a romance anime (and then a few that aren’t romance) will be familiar with the idea of the “indirect kiss”. Honestly, I perceived the idea to be Level of Giving a Hoot = something that varied by culture + personality, so to have different opinions on the matter laid out on a webpage made it some interesting food for thought.

[Eight] I forgive you (Planet With) by Atelier Emily (For Me, in Full Bloom) – On the other end of the title spectrum, here’s this post. As envious as you can get of Emily’s various anime blogger gigs, you gotta admit she’s got skill with words, which is definitely on show with this Planet With post. In fact, that’s so true, I still have some of her posts in my dedicated folder for round-ups.

Manga Review – Shugo Chara! by Krystallina at Daiya Manga – Krystallina’s been one of my followers for a while (and probably is one of the most consistent in leaving likes) but she often focuses on North American physical and digital sales, so she’s hard to recommend to bloggers outside that region. However, you don’t have to dig too far to get manga reviews from her, so here’s one for a series I’ve actually finished(!)

Manga Review – Alice 19th by Yuu Watasefrom Laura (Manga Hoarder) – Another series I’ve finished under review. If nothing, this series deserves more press for the unique premise and known-hit-making creator.

Collaboration: Rising of the Shield Hero Episode 1: Start of the legend by Astral (The Zodiac Room) and Plyasm – Okay, interesting fact: I was around when Astral offered this collab opportunity, but I said “no” (things are starting to get good on the non-anime side of my life and I already have Yomu’s collab). Well, at least it produced something – it kicked Plyasm out of his latest hiatus – and since I can’t talk about Dororo, I’ll share this instead. (Not to mention the collab lacks the drama people have come to associate with internet discourse of this series.)

Autumn 2018 First Impressions – Merc Storia by Jessi Silver (Season 1 Episode 1) – Now that I’ve gotten into playing the phone game, I think the anime needs more attention…and I know it’s not the best show out there (there is a main storyline it could’ve adapted, rather than the disconnected event plotlines it did adapt) but it honestly didn’t get much press, so I had to make do with the best of what existed.

“It’s Not Over ‘Til It’s Over” – The Post-Apocalyptic Optimism of Girls’ Last Tour by Alex from the Afictionado – Due to Amazon Strike, people are, years later, discovering what made certain series special – particularly Houseki no Kuni and this. Although I still believe it was one of the weaker offerings of fall 2017 due to the fact I don’t really like discussing war in general, I think Alex captures the spirit of the show well in this piece.

Oh, Sweet Baby Sugarby Lina (Tiny Ugly Animal) – Sure, Gakuen Babysitters is problematic at spots, but generally it’s almost heart-cloyingly sweet and just as likely to break your heart. So between Lina’s hypothetical spinoffs and critique, what’s not to like?

A Review of…Crunchyroll?by Magnus (Sakura Sunrise) – A somewhat recent (as of this roundup) indepth look into paid and non-paid Crunchyroll (because I’ve been looking into that lately – it’s interesting how hot-button issues can change a post).

Secret Santa 2016: Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu by Foomafoo (Temporal Vortex) – There is only 1 series (as of this roundup) that has gotten the perfect score and if you’ve checked my list, you’ll know it’s SGRS s2. Although this post is dated a few days before s2 aired, I cannot stop singing the praises of the series even though it’s been years since I watched it, and that’s why this rounds out the roundup this month.

Spellbook Offerings

12 Days of Anime

Looking Forward to Winter 2019– Another year, another season, another flood of anime. Sure, some of the licensing info may be incorrect because it’s out-of-date, but it’s basically a tradition to put my predictions as the final of the 12 Days at this point…

Other Stuff

3 Days 3 Quotes posts (post 1)(post 2)(post 3) – I mentioned this last time, so here they are. Although I picked each quote in isolation, there’s an odd sense of progression to them when reading the main quote of the day in order…

Is Anime Ready for the Mainstream? – Dewbond’s post got me thinking about various topics I and others have touched on before, so the new year (which was approaching, at the time of writing) was a good time to consolidate these thoughts.

Coming up next…

Borrowed some books about Hayao Miyazaki, so I might end up having an Ode to Anime Studios on Ghibli soon…

As I mentioned, things are getting better on the non-anime side of life. Lots of cleaning got done this month and I survived the unpaid equivalent of Retail Hell over Christmas /New Year. However, the most important thing this month hasn’t happened yet – in fact, it’s meant to be happening on the afternoon the day this goes out, so…if I manage to get it, I’ll disclose what it is! (I’m not saying what it is, because I’ve mentioned things in progress to people on the internet before and then fail to be successful at said things, so I’d rather not jinx this one.)

3 thoughts on “Must-read Monthly Monday (January 2019 ed.)”

Oh, thank you for the feature. I am hopelessly behind on my blog reading. I hardly manage to write posts or answer (those few) comments I get. But there are some interesting sounding posts here which peaked my interest.

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